The question is Spielberg vs Cameron ….who is the best? Steven Spielberg and James Cameron are two of the most successful directors of all time. So I figured it would be fun to compare these two legendary directors.
Combined they have directed 38 movies. Those movies have grossed over $12 billion in adjusted box office in North America and over $25 billion in Worldwide adjusted box office grosses. Their movies have earned 163 Oscar® nominations and 52 Oscar® wins. Those wins include a Best Picture Oscar® for Schindler’s List and Titanic. Spielberg has two Best Director Oscars® for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan while Cameron won the Best Director Oscar® for Titanic
The following Spielberg vs Cameron table looks at all of their movies. The tables ranks Spielberg and Cameron movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.
This Spielberg vs Cameron Table Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort by who directed the movie
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Spielberg or Cameron movie received.
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Possibly Interesting Stats From Our Spielberg vs Cameron Question
1. Movies directed: Steven Spielberg has directed 28 movies. James Cameron has directed 10 movies. Edge goes to Speilberg.
2. Box Office Comparison: James Cameron movies average $304.03 million in adjusted domestic box office gross and $943.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office. Steve Spielberg movies average $290.28 million in adjusted domestic box office gross and $545.07 million in adjusted worldwide box office. Edge goes to Cameron.
3. Critics/Audience Rating: An average Steven Spielberg has a 77.00% rating…while James Cameron’s movies average 76.42% rating according to critics and audiences. Slight edge to Spielberg.
4. Oscar® nominations in any category: Steven Spielberg movies have picked up 118 Oscar® nominations or 4.06 per movie. James Cameron movies have picked up 41 Oscar® nominations or 4.10 per movie. Slight edge to Cameron.
5. Oscar® wins in any category: James Cameron movies have picked up 21 Oscar® wins or 2.10 per movie. Steven Spielberg movies have picked up 31 Oscar® nominations or 1.10 per movie. Edge to Cameron.
6. Best Picture Oscar® nominations: Steven Spielberg has directed 9 movies that received a Best Picture nomination or 31.03% of his movies. James Cameron has directed 2 movies that received a Best Picture nomination or 20.00% of his movies. Edge to Spielberg.
7. Best Director Oscar® nominations: Steven Spielberg has received 7 Best Director nominations….winning twice. James Cameron has received 2 Best Director nominations….winning once. Edge to Spielberg.
8. Average Cogerson Movie Score: A Steven Spielberg movie has a average Cogerson Movie Score of 63.30. A James Cameron movie has a average Cogerson Movie Score of 58.95. Edge to Spielberg.
So those are the stats…who do you think is the best Spielberg or Cameron? As for me? Gotta go with Spielberg.
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Really nice idea for a match up between these two. I love Terminator and I like some of Cameron’s other work, but for me it has to be Spielberg at the top. So many of Spielberg’s movies have wit, clever little cameos, memorable set-pieces and great entertainment value. I’m currently compiling my own top 100 favourite movies list and provisionally Spielberg has 7 entries – no other director has more than 3. Enough said.
Good work Cogerson. I will refer back regularly to this page.
Hey Greensleeves…I agree Spielberg would be my winner as well….just the quantity of movies….gives him the edge over Cameron….either way this list is a great list of great movies…they have and will be referenced for a very long time…..I look forward to your Top 100 list….it should be a good one…thanks for stopping by..
Another fascinating movie page Cogerson, cheers.
In worldwide grosses, Cameron trounces Spielberg, Avatar alone grossed $2.8 billion, than add Titanic’s $1.8 billion and thats a lot of moolah!
But counting worldwide ticket sales instead of dollars Spielberg could still be no.1. But he has been around longer and made more films.
Favourite Spielberg film, a tie – Jaws and Close Encounters.
Favourite Cameron film, Aliens.
I agree Steve….international dollars James Cameron is a monster…. we agree….Aliens and Jaws would be my top movies as well….
By the time Cameron makes 28 films will be in the year 2104
Good point Tree 33
Give me some Cameron
Got your vote Shaun
Well both are awesome, however you have to go with Spielberg. Yes he has more movies than Cameron, but everything Spielberg touches is Gold, if he can do it, don’t ya think cameron should be able to hold his ground.
I agree with you BobRules….both are great…but Spielberg is a little greater